Packing for Norway: Winter Gear

I’ll be heading off to Norway and Sweden in just under a week! The excitement is palpable. We’ve pulled down the suitcases and started to fill it with stuff – gifts and goodies for the friends we are seeing during a stopover in London, guidebooks and gee gaws – but the most important stuff is what we’ll bring with us to keep our fingers and toes from falling off during a dog sled ride, or during the hours spent outdoors watching the Northern Lights, or wandering the cobble-stoned streets of Gamla Stan. This is how I’m planning to layer up:

Thermal layers (Pic from: www.joonussait.com)

Thermal

The first layer is the most important – get it right and it’ll help you retain heat. Wear cotton, and you’ll be shivering for hours. Nothing beats a technical thermal layer for heat retention. I had some thin Uniqlo Heattech tops, but I felt like these weren’t heavy duty enough for a wintry March in Scandinavia, so I stocked up on Patagonia’s Capilene 3 midweight baselayers – tops and bottoms. These wick away moisture, which will help keep me dry and warm even in the snow or rain.

The middle layer/s should be insulation – warm woolens or cashmere tops will work. I’m bringing three of my favourite cashmere jumpers, a thin fleece, and two down-filled jackets, one thicker than the other, with a hood, to cope with changeable temperatures. I plan to layer these as much or as little as I need to.

Goretex jacket and ski pants

It doesn’t matter how many layers you have on, if you get wet, you won’t be able to keep warm, so a weather-proof outer layer is key. To keep rain off, I splurged on a triple layer Goretex jacket, with a hood. This will help keep me dry, cut out the wind and retain heat. To allow for space underneath for the many layers I will be wearing, I bought this in a slightly larger size. I’m borrowing a quality pair of ski pants from my mate in London as I was advised against the thinner, snowboard style of pants.

Finger and toes are usually the first to feel the cold – so I’m bringing a pair of Thinsulate gloves as a baselayer, then throwing on a pair of ski gloves. The additional base layer has the advantage of dexterity, which I will require for fiddling around with my camera settings in the cold! I’m also bringing along a lambswool scarf, a Thinsulate beanie plus an alpaca double layer beanie and a heavyweight wool sock along with a thinner, moisture-wicking liner sock. I’m also bringing two pairs of reusable pocket warmers – they’ll be a comfort in the cold!

I was advised by a friend to bring snowboots; however I doubt I would ever use them again if I bought them, and snowboots are not cheap! Instead I’m going to wing it in my ankle high hiking boots, which has a medium thick rubber sole – but I’m amping it up with 3M’s Thinsulate Thermal Insoles and some icegrips for better traction on snow and ice.

10 Comments

Lol. Trust me, I’m rethinking this mad decision to go to Scandinavia in March! But it’s supposed to be a good time for the Northern Lights, so go we must. Am hoping that all this gear will be sufficient.

Oh I’m jealous! I am dying to get to the Scandinavia to check out the northern lights…did you know that this is the best year in 100 to see them because of extra solar flare activity? Enjoy and take lots of pics!!! 🙂 I’ll have to live vicariously through you I think…

That’s why we planned it for this year!! I heard last year was pretty good too, a friend of mine went and it was on the strength of her recommendation that I made sure I was going in 2013. I hope I manage to get some good pics – the lights are notoriously difficult to shoot! 🙂

About me

Born and bred in Malaysia, schooled in Australia, temporarily based in London and for awhile a short-term New Yorker, Peggy now lives next to the sea in Sydney. Her passions are travel, photography and the written word. She loves wide open spaces, sunshine and the roar of the surf.